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MODERN TRENDS IN PSYCHOLOGICAL TREATMENT:Biological Approaches

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History and Systems of Psychology ­ PSY502
VU
Lesson 39
MODERN TRENDS IN PSYCHOLOGICAL TREATMENT
The psychological method of treatment is an approach in which the patient is not treated with medicines.
Psychological approach may be divided into:
·
Psychodynamic methodologies
·
Behavioral methodologies
·
Cognitive methodologies
·
Humanistic methodologies
·
Group methodologies of treatment
The first three methodologies have already been discussed. The fourth approach in psychological methods
is the Humanistic approach. As you remember Carl Rogers was one of its practitioners. Humanistic
therapists view themselves more as guides than therapists. The assumption is that a person has the potential
to get well but he just needs the way to be shown to mental health. Client Centred therapy is one such
method of humanistic method of treatment.
Treatment of less severe forms of mental diseases may also be done in groups. Where this approach is
adopted, it is called Group therapy. It may take the form of a group of people taking part in a drama, as in
psychodrama, a technique developed by J.L. Moreno. Or a group may discuss their problems together. One
specialized form of group therapy is called Family therapy, where the focus may be the family of the client
or the patient.
Group therapy is a form of psychotherapy in which the therapist has regular meetings with a small group of
individuals. The purpose of group therapy is to assist each of these individual in his or her emotional
development and assist him to solve his or her personal problem. People may choose group therapy for
several reasons which include reasons such as group therapy being cheaper than individual therapies since
the cost is divided among group members. Another reason may be that group therapy allows interaction
with other people giving more insights into how people solve their problems effectively and a chance to
learn from these. In addition, group members receive support from others in the group.
Family therapy is a form of psychotherapy that involves all the members of a nuclear or extended family. It
may be conducted by a pair of therapists which often may be a man and a woman. This is usually done
when problems related to gender roles in the family are creating trouble. Some types of family therapies are
based on behavioral or psychodynamic principles while most of the others are based on family systems
theory. Family system theory regards the entire family as the unit of treatment, and emphasizes such vital
factors as relationships and communication patterns among members of the family. The purpose of family
therapy is to identify and treat family problems that cause upheavals in the family life.
Comparing all these methods together, a research undertaken recently, involving one hundred and eighty six
thousand people who undertook psychotherapy, it was revealed that Cognitive therapy had a success rate of
95%: Behavioral therapy had a success rate of 85% followed by Psychodynamic methods having a success
rate of 80% and so on.
b) Biological Approaches
Now let us look at some other methods that we include in biological approaches to treat disorders they deal
with more severe kinds of mental illnesses. One noticeable fact in this regard is, as pointed out earlier, that
these methods are employed for more severe and chronic cases of mental disorders.
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History and Systems of Psychology ­ PSY502
VU
The first major mode of treatment in biological approach is Drug therapy. This is control of mental
disorders through drugs.
Some such drugs include:
i. Anti-psychotic drugs: Drugs which are used for severe cases of psychosis.
ii. Anti-depressant drugs: Drugs which are used to relax the patient.
iii. Anti-anxiety drugs: Drugs which are used to help anxiety.
Another method apart from prescribing drugs is called Electroconvulsive therapy or ECT in short. In this
method, mild shocks are given to the head of the patient to help him rid his mental disease. Usually a shock
of 70 to 150 volts is administered to the head of a severely sick patient. Scientists and psychiatrists are still
unable to understand the phenomenon behind the success of ECT.
The third method in this category is Psycho-surgery. This method involves surgically removing a part of
the brain. This method is very rarely used today and only as a last resort. These are the three major methods
of treatment using the biological model.
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Table of Contents:
  1. INTRODUCTION:Methodology, Grading, Course Overview up to Midterm
  2. ANCIENT GREEK PHILOSOPHY/PSYCHOLOGY:Socrates, Plato
  3. GREEK THINKERS:Aristotle, Contiguity, Contrast
  4. PSYCHOLOGY IN THE 5TH TO 12TH CENTURY:Saint Augustine, Avicenna
  5. PSYCHOLOGY IN THE 5TH TO 12TH CENTURY:Al-Ghazali, Ibn-Rushd, Averroes
  6. RENAISSANCE:Rene Descartes
  7. ASSOCIATIONISTS:Thomas Hobbes, John Locke
  8. ASSOCIATIONISTS:David Hume, FRENCH REVOLUTION, Denis Diderot
  9. GERMAN CONTRIBUTION:Wilhelm Liebniz, Immanuel Kant, Friedrich Hegel
  10. INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION:RUSSIAN CONTRIBUTIONS
  11. RUSSIAN CONTRIBUTIONS:Ivan Pavlov, Reflex, Acquisition
  12. RUSSIAN CONTRIBUTIONS:Vladimir Bekhterev
  13. IMPACT OF PHYSICAL SCIENCES ON PSYCHOLOGY:Charles Darwin, Gustav Fechner
  14. STRUCTURALIST SCHOOL OF PSYCHOLOGY:Wilhelm Wundt
  15. FUNCTIONALISM:William James, John Dewey
  16. EUROPEAN FUNCTIONALISTS:David Katz, Edgar Rubin, Jean Piaget
  17. BEHAVIORISM:Edward Lee Thorndike, Law of belongingness
  18. BEHAVIORISM:Albert Weiss, Edwin Holt, Learning, Canalization, Walter Hunter
  19. BEHAVIORISM:J.B.Watson
  20. NEO-BEHAVIOURISTS:Clark Hull, Edward Tolman, Edwin Gutherie
  21. NEO-BEHAVIORISTS:B.F. Skinner, Karl Lashley, Donald Hebb, Hobart Mowrer
  22. GESTALT PSYCHOLOGY:Max Wertheimer, Similarity, Proximity, Closure
  23. GESTALT PSYCHOLOGY:Wolfgang Kohler, Kurt Koffka, Edward De Bono
  24. GESTALT SCHOOL AND DYNAMIC PSYCHOLOGY:Kurt Lewin, DYNAMIC PSYCHOLOGY
  25. HISTORICO-EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY:Leon Vygotsky, Sergei Rubenstein
  26. HISTORICO-EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY:Alexei Leontiev, K.M Bykov
  27. SCIENTIFIC LOOK AT MENTAL DISORDERS
  28. SCIENTIFIC LOOK AT MENTAL ILLNESS:Philippe Pinel, Sameul Tuke
  29. SIGMUND FREUD AND THE PSYCHOANALYTIC MOVEMENT:The Superego
  30. SIGMUND FREUD AND PSYCHOANALYTICAL MOVEMENT:Anna Freud
  31. CARL JUNG AND ANALYTICAL PSYCHOLOGY:Carl Gustav Jung
  32. JUNG’S ANALYTICAL PSYCHOLOGY:Carl Gustav Jung
  33. ALFRED ADLER AND INDIVIDUAL PSYCHOLOGY:Alfred Adler
  34. NEO-FREUDIANS:Harry Stack Sullivan, Karen Horney
  35. NEO-FREUDIANS:Karen Horney, Erich Fromm
  36. ERIKSON and MORENO:J.L. Moreno, Protagonist, Audience, Role playing
  37. HUMANISTIC PSYCHOLOGY:Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers, Positive Psychology
  38. MODERN TRENDS IN PSYCHOLOGICAL TREATMENT
  39. MODERN TRENDS IN PSYCHOLOGICAL TREATMENT:Biological Approaches
  40. ANTI-PSYCHIATRY MOVEMENT:D.L. Rosenhan, R.D. Laing, Aaron Esterson
  41. PSYCHOLOGY IN THE THIRD WORLD:Frantz Fanon
  42. PSYCHOLOGY IN THE THIRD WORLD CHINA AND PAKISTAN
  43. PSYCHOLOGY IN THE 21st CENTURY
  44. PSYCHOLOGY IN THE 21ST CENTURY:Consumer Psychology
  45. PSYCHOLOGY IN THE 21ST CENTURY:Sports Psychology, Positive Psychology